The proliferation of new information exchange media continues. Only a decade ago, the expense of a digital compact disc player and the relatively few audio selections available on compact disc ("CD") made that particular information exchange media a novelty enjoyed only by the well-heeled audiophile. Today, the predecessor of the compact disc, the magnetic cassette tape, is viewed with disdain as an inferior means for storing, transferring and enjoying audio information. Cassette tapes and cassette tape players have been all but replaced in the home, car and on the waists of joggers by relatively inexpensive CD players. The switch to the CD as the information exchange media of choice is not limited to the latest music. CDs are now commonly utilized to transfer information ranging from computer software to information databases to "books on tape. "
As the advent of the CD has already revolutionized the transfer of information in the audio and computer readable contexts, the CD will soon revolutionize the method by which conventionally videotaped information is stored, transferred and enjoyed. In fact, many video rental stores now offer parallel video selections in digital video disc ("DVD") format, signaling the beginning of the end for conventional videotape rentals.
Driving this transition is the basic fact that conventional magnetic tapes, such as cassette tapes and videotapes, have limited lifespans. As these devices are played and the information extracted therefrom, the tape which stores the information is pulled, stretched, placed in frictional contact with an audio head or video head and, eventually, weakened to the point of failure. Accordingly, devices for protecting and transporting these tapes need only be constructed for the purpose of surviving the limited life expectancy of the tape.
CDs, in contrast, boast no ascertainable lifespan limitations. In fact, media contained on such properly maintained discs may be accessed an infinite number of times without the slightest noticeable degradation of the quality of the information retrieved. The single most important factor in preserving such CDs is the proper handling and maintenance of the CD by the user.
Purchasers of CDs who intend to use the discs for their own personal purposes over an extended period of time will normally exercise a reasonable amount of caution in removing, using and storing the CD from and to its storage container. However, those who rent such CDs for a matter of days, only to eventually return the discs, often have little concern for the long term well-being of the CD. Such lack of concern could lead to any of a number of possible "injuries" to the disk, including warping, scratching or even breaking.
In the rental industry, where discs have begun to appear and will soon be standard, the challenge to maintain the well-being of the fragile disc is apparent. In particular, the disc manufacturing and rental industries have both attempted to develop a storage and transportation container for discs which will withstand substantial wear and tear. This wear and tear begins at the storage container production facility where the typical disc storage container, or parts thereof, are bent somewhat so that the container may be assembled. Thereafter, the sources of wear and tear and more obvious. Specifically, disc storage cases are opened and closed many thousands of times, inadvertently dropped on the floor, intentionally dropped in disc "drop slots" at the rental center and are, furthermore, subjected to a wide range of other abuses limited only by the imagination.
Accordingly, there is a need for a disc storage container which is more resilient to forces, both intended and unintended, applied to the container during assembly and use. There is also a need in the art for a disc storage container that affords increased ease of use in terms of its ability to deliver both the enclosed disc and related textual or graphic materials.